"But the seventh year you shall release it and let it lie fallow" (Exodus 23:11). "You shall release it" means from working it; "and let it lie fallow" means regarding eating from it. From this I know only about vineyards and olive groves; from where do I learn about other produce and grasses? Scripture teaches, "and let it lie fallow," in any case [extending the rule to everything]. Another interpretation: "But the seventh year you shall release it." This tells that a man may break down its fences [so that the poor may enter and take freely], except that the Sages decreed [a restriction] for the sake of the right ordering of the world. [So that you should not say:] "And why did the Torah command this? Was it not so that the poor might eat of it? Behold, I will gather it in and distribute it to the poor myself." Scripture teaches, "But the seventh year you shall release it," telling that a man breaks down the fences, except that the Sages decreed otherwise for the sake of the right ordering of the world.
The Seventh Year You Shall Release It and Let It Lie
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 353:5
(שמות כג יא) וְהַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּשְׁמְטֶנָהּ וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ, תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּהּ, בַּעֲבֹדָתָהּ, וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ, בַּאֲכִילָתָהּ, אֵין לִי אֶלָּא כְּרָמִים וְזֵיתִים, פֵּרוֹת וַעֲשָׂבִים, מִנָּיִן, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר, וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ, מִכָּל מָקוֹם. דָּבָר אַחֵר, וְהַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּהּ, מַגִּיד שֶׁהוּא פּוֹרֵץ בָּהּ פְּרָצוֹת, אֶלָּא שֶׁגָּזְרוּ חֲכָמִים מִפְּנֵי תִּקּוּן הָעוֹלָם, [שֶׁלֹּא תֹאמַר] וְכִי מִפְּנֵי מָה אָמְרָה תּוֹרָה, לֹא שֶׁיֹּאכְלוּ אוֹתָהּ עֲנִיִּים, הֲרֵי אֲנִי מַכְנִיסָהּ וּמְחַלְּקָהּ לָעֲנִיִּים, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר וְהַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּהּ, מַגִּיד שֶׁהוּא פּוֹרֵץ פְּרָצוֹת אֶלָּא שֶׁגָּזְרוּ חֲכָמִים מִפְּנֵי תִּקּוּן הָעוֹלָם.